James Monroe Event Timeline

James Monroe (5) Event Timeline

03/04/1817– 03/04/1825

12/04/1816

Election period ends. Monroe wins 83.9% of the Electoral College to defeat Federalist candidate Rufus King.

1817

03/04/1817

Inaugural Address. “In contemplating what we have still to perform, the heart of every citizen must expand with joy when he reflects how near our government has approached to perfection; that in respect to it we have no essential improvement to make; that the great object is to preserve it in the essential principles and features which characterize it, and that is to be done by preserving the virtue and enlightening the minds of the people ..."

04/29/1817

Signs the Rush-Bagot Pact, a treaty between the United States and Great Britain to demilitarize the Great Lakes. This marked the beginning of Anglo-American cooperation and the start of Monroe’s presidential actions.

05/31/1817 - 09/17/1817

“Tours” eastern states and territories including Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Michigan, Vermont, and Ohio. Promotes national unity between Democratic-Republicans and Federalists. The tour has been regarded as the beginning of the “Era of Good Feelings,” a period characterized by a sense of national purpose and a desire for unity among Americans after the War of 1812.

06/07/1817 -
07/1818

Authorizes three diplomats to go to South America to gather information about the governments in a letter to the acting Secretary of State. The commissioners set sail on August 24^th and returning in July 1818.

11/21/1817

The First Seminole War begins after U.S. authorities attempt to capture runaway slaves living among the Seminole Indians. The Seminole people had begun hiding runaway slaves who escaped southern plantations. African descendants and Native Americans fought and won repeatedly against the United States military until Florida was forcibly acquired from Spain in 1819.

12/02/1817

First Annual Message to Congress where he stresses the importance of avoiding actions that would invite European involvement in the Americas. This requires neutrality with respect to South American colonial revolts against Spain.

12/10/1817

Signs resolution, (3 Stat 472) admitting Mississippi to the Union.

12/23/1817

Signs an act to abolish internal duties (3 Stat 401), repealing war-time taxes of 1813.

12/26/1817

With Monroe’s agreement, Secretary of War John Calhoun directs General Andrew Jackson to confront the Seminole Indians. “. . . [A]dopt the necessary measures to terminate a conflict which it has ever been the desire of the President. . .to avoid; but which is now made necessary by their Settled hostilities.” [Andrew Jackson Papers, vol IV, p. 163.] In a letter of 12/28/1817, Monroe himself authorized Jackson to take action against the Seminoles.

1818

01/12/1818

General Jackson writes Secretary Calhoun to acknowledge receipt of his order of 12/16/1817.

01/13/1818

In a Special Message to Congress, announces the occupation of Amelia Island (on the east coast of Florida) which had become a haven for pirates, and allegedly a haven for Venezuelan revolutionaries. States that Spain was unaware of these activities or “utterly unable to prevent them.”

01/21/1818

General Jackson writes Monroe about his plans "to crush the hostility of the Seminoles, and there [sic] adherents." [Bassett, Jackson Correspondence vol. II, p. 349].

03/27/1818

Signs Congressional Joint Resolution, (3 Stat 475) directing the public and distribution of the journal and proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the United States.

04/18/1818

Signs an act, (3 Stat 428) authorizing the people of the Illinois territory to create a constitution and state government for the admission of the state into the Union.

04/28/1818

Proclamation of the Rush-Bagot Agreement (following Senate Ratification on 04/16/1818)

04/29/1818

Execution ordered by General Jackson of two British citizens, Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister. Both were convicted by a military tribunal of assisting US enemies in the Seminole War. This caused a diplomatic controversy and was later criticized by a report of a House Committee on Military Affairs.

05/24/1818

Without clear authority from the President, Jackson invades and occupies Pensacola, forcing the Spanish to seek refuge in Havana. That is, Jackson commits an act of war against Spain.

05/28/1818 - 06/17/1818

Tour of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina; halted after receiving word of Jackson's actions in seizing Pensacola.

10/20/1818

Signing of the Anglo-American Convention (also known as the Treaty of 1818) between Great Britain and the United States, which established the boundary between the U.S. and Canada, fishing rights, and an economic intervention on the issue of American slaves. The treaty is ratified by the Senate on 01/25/1819.

11/09/1818

Appoints Smith Thompson as Secretary of the Navy. Under Thompson, the Navy was responsible for enforcing the prohibition of the international slave trade.

11/16/1818

Second Annual Message to Congress. Recounts the disagreements with Spain, and the US seizure of Amelia Island which had "become the theater of every species of lawless adventure." Also discusses General Jackson's actions in the Seminole War and promises to provide copies of correspondence with the General. Calls for Congress to consider legislation to "prevent the extinction" of "independent savage communities." This would require that "their independence as communities should cease, and that the control of the United States over them should be complete and undisputed." The goal would be "to civilize them."

12/03/1818

Signs Joint Resolution (3 Stat 536) declaring Illinois admitted as 21st state.

1819

01/1819

The Panic of 1819 begins and is the first widespread financial crisis in the U.S. Many factors contribute to this, including overexpansion of credit post-War of 1812, low prices of European imports, and the collapse of the export market, especially cotton prices, starting in the month of January.

02/13/1819

Rep. James Tallmadge Jr. (NY) offers two amendments to a Missouri Statehood Bill that catalyze a debate on slavery. One amendment would restrict further slavery in Missouri, and the other would set a timeline for freeing enslaved persons already in the territory.

02/22/1819

Signing in Washington City of the Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain, (also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, and ratified in 1821), which ceded Florida to the U.S., renounced claims to Oregon, gained recognition of Spanish sovereignty over Texas, and established the boundary line between the U.S. and New Spain.

03/02/1819

Signs the Steerage Act of 1819, (3 Stat 488) the first U.S. law regulating the conditions of travelers arriving and departing by sea. Required U.S. customs agents to produce a written manifesto of the passengers’ demographics and set the stage for quotas and selective bans of ethnic groups.

03/02/1819

Signs an act, (3 Stat 489) authorizing the people of the Alabama territory to create a constitution and state government for the admission of the state into the Union.

03/03/1819

Signs an act (3 Stat 523), authorizing the President to take control of East and West Florida, and establish a temporary government. This act is subsequently amended repeatedly regarding settlement of the territory.

03/03/1819

Signs an act, (3 Stat 532), authorizing the Navy to patrol and implement more control to combat the importation of slaves after its abolition, which was attempted to return African slaves who had been brought to the U.S. illegally after the abolition of the slave trade in 1808.

03/06/1819

McCulloch v. Maryland establishes a precedent that states cannot tax federal agencies. The Supreme Court unanimously rules that the Necessary and Proper Clause grants the federal government implied powers and underscores the supremacy of the federal government over those of the states. State governments had proposed taxes on the Bank of the United States in reaction against the Bank recalling loans on land purchased from the Federal government.

03/30/1819 - 08/08/1819

Third tour to Southern and Western states—Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana.

07/06/1819

Writes to Secretary of War Calhoun to authorize financing for an expedition to the mouth of the Yellowstone River.

12/07/1819

Third Annual Message to Congress.

12/14/1819

Signs an act (3 Stat 608) admitting Alabama as 22nd state.

1820

03/03/1820

Signs an act, (3 Stat 544) admitting Maine as a free state into the Union.

03/06/1820

Signs the Missouri Compromise (3 Stat 545). The Act attempted to maintain a legislative balance between the pro-slavery South and anti-slavery North by delineating which states would be free and which would not. Maine would only be granted admission into the Union if Missouri was admitted as a slaveholding state. Monroe supported the Compromise.

03/17/1820

In a Special Message to the House, points out that under an agreement reached 04/24/1802 with the State of Georgia, there was agreement to "extinguish . . .the Indian title to all lands within [Georgia]." Requests funding adequate to negotiate a treaty with the Creek Indians to return property to citizens of Georgia.

05/15/1820

Signs the Tenure of Office Act (“An Act to limit the term of office of certain officers. . . “ 3 Stat 582) limiting the term in office of many appointees to four years, unless they were reappointed.

11/14/1820

Fourth Annual Message to Congress.

12/06/1820

Election period ends. Monroe wins 98.3% of the Electoral College vote after running effectively unopposed. The lack of opposition further reflected the “era of good feelings.”

1821

02/22/1821

Signs and proclaims the Adams-Onis Treaty (Transcontinental Treaty) that had been concluded on 02/22/1819. By Special Message asks for Congressional implementation.

03/02/1821

Signs the Military Establishment Act, (3 Stat 615) , which aims to reduce and fix the military peace establishment of the United States, by reducing the Army’s manpower by 40 percent. Foreign policy shifts away intimidation and toward commerce and negotiation.

03/02/1821

Signs "an Act for the relief of the purchaser of public lands. . . " (3 Stat 612) permitted land purchasers to relinquish rights to a part of the land purchased with all payments on that relinquished land applied to any debts on other lands the purchaser retains. Interest on the relinquished land will be discharged. (See entry above 01/1819, Panic of 1819)

03/03/1821

Signs an act (3 Stat 637) implementing the Adams-Onis Treaty concluded on 02/22/1819.

03/04/1821

Second Inaugural Address.

07/15/1821

During the year 1821, Sequoyah completed the development of a written Cherokee language based on symbols representing spoken syllables.

08/10/1821

Proclaims admission of Missouri as a state.

12/03/1821

Fifth Annual Message to Congress.

1822

03/08/1822

In a Special Message to Congress proposes recognition of Independent Republics of Central and South America.

03/30/1822

Signs an act, (3 Stat 654) establishing a territorial government in Florida.

04/20/1822

Signs act for the relief of purchasers of public lands (see panic of 1819 above)

05/04/1822

Signs an act, (3 Stat 678) providing money for diplomatic missions to Central and South America, should it be proper.

05/04/1822

Vetoes Cumberland Road Appropriation Bill, which would have provided for yearly improvements to the highway with federal funding, as he believed it was unconstitutional for the federal government to become involved in projects that warranted attention by state governments. This was Monroe’s first and only presidential veto.

06/24/1822

Proclaims a Navigation and Commerce Treaty with France signed on the same date by Secretary of State Adams. This suspends the imposing of taxes based the capacity of French ships and vessels.  

12/03/1822

Sixth Annual Message to Congress.

1823

03/03/1823

Signs an Act (3 Stat 750) establishing a territorial government for all the land ceded by Spain.

03/03/1823

Signs an Act (3 Stat 788) to establish a National armory on "the western waters."

12/02/1823

Seventh Annual Message to Congress articulates the “Monroe Doctrine.” States that the United States would recognize existing colonies in the Western Hemisphere, close the Western Hemisphere to future colonization, would not interfere in the internal affairs of or wars between European powers, and would interpret any attempt by a European power to control any nation in the Western Hemisphere as a hostile act against the United States. The Monroe Doctrine was met with a positive reception in Congress.

1824

03/30/1824

In a Special Message to Congress, addresses the fact that the US have not yet "at their own expense extinguish for the use of Georgia the Indian title to all the lands within the State. . . " This is not for lack of trying, and should not be done by force. "An attempt to remove them by force would, in my opinion, be unjust." The best outcome would be for the tribes "to remove beyond the limits of our present States and Territories."

04/30/1824

Signs the General Survey Act (4 Stat 22), which authorized the president to order surveys of routes for roads and canals of national importance.

05/22/1824

Signs into law the Tariff of 1824 (4 Stat 25), which supported local manufactures and goods by raising protective tariff rates for such products as glass, lead, iron, and wool. Meant to protect American manufacturing, instead of cheaper British commodities. Gave a source of revenue for the federal government as well as support from northeastern manufacturing states.

08/15/1824

General Lafayette begins a farewell tour of the United States that takes him to every state. He departed for his return to France on 09/06/1825. (A detailed timeline of Lafayette's travels is linked here.

12/07/1824

Eighth Annual Message to Congress. "It is a cause of serious regret that no arrangement has yet been finally concluded between [the United States and Great Britain] to secure by joint cooperation the suppression of the slave trade." Recommends enlarging the Corps of Engineers in the interest of surveying routes for roads and canals. Recommends making "a provision" for General Lafayette in light of his "important services, losses and sacrifices." Recommends exempting justices of the Supreme Court from circuit court duties. Discusses the interests of the United States on the Pacific Ocean and on the western coast of the continent.

1825

01/12/1825

Proclaims the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 (also called the Convention of 1824) which had been signed in St. Petersburg 04/17/1824. The treaty consolidates US claims to the Oregon territory and provides for undisturbed ocean access by US citizens and subjects. (The treaty text can be found in the Statutes at Large vol. 8, p. 302.)

01/27/1825

In a Special Message to Congress recommends "removal of the Indian tribes from the lands which they now occupy. . . to the country lying westward and northward thereof, within our acknowledged boundaries. . . Experience has clearly demonstrated that, in their present state, it is impossible to incorporate them in such masses, in any form whatever, into our system . . . Their degradation and extermination will be inevitable.”

02/28/1825

In Special Message to the Senate, submits a treaty with the Creek Indians (concluded on 02/12/1825) in which they agreed to surrender their remaining lands. This was later ratified by the Senate on 03/07/1825. The treaty was subsequently recognized as fraudulent and replaced in 1826 by the Treaty of Washington.

03/03/1825

Signs an Act ( 4 Stat 101) confirming the incorporation of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, and authorizing the company to extend the canal into the District of Columbia, subject to an investigation to be ordered by the President.